Thursday, February 10, 2011

Is Jennifer Aniston in an Empire State of Mind?

Have the children ever wondered what sort of person shells out $13,500,000 to acquire a sprawling Hal Leavitt-designed fixer-upper in Beverly Hills, CA, spend untold millions more on an extraordinary renovation, have the damn thing photographed for Architectural Digest and then have the nerve tell the peeps at People magazine that it's just "too much" because she's "not this person" who owns and lives so lavishly

Rom-com queen Jennifer Aniston, that's who.

Miz Aniston's real estate ennui all started last summer when the actress was in London and awoke in the middle of the night, couldn't sleep and decided she needed to "simplify" her life? How does a well-tended and unimaginably wealthy film and television star like Miz Aniston "simplify" her life? She considers selling her 9,000+ square foot mansion in the Bev Hills and (allegedly) puts in an offer on a $14,950,000 pre-war doo-plex penthouse in the arty-farty turned hoity-toity West Village neighborhood in New York City.

We're not sure how a fifteen million dollar penthouse with nearly $6,000 in monthly maintenance and vast planted terraces that require frequent visits from a strapping young gardener qualifies as a real estate simplification, but who are we to question the opaque and often vexatious real estate ways of the rich and famous?The two floor penthouse Miz Aniston allegedly has her eyes on, according to listing information, spans 2,950 square feet and includes 3-4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces, and two terraces that total approximately 2,300 square feet. Imagine, children, having 2,300 square feet of outdoor space in downtown Manhattan. Lawrd puppies, Your Mama's not even sure that the usable space our backyard in the Hollywood Hills comes to 2,300 square feet.

The apartment recently underwent a 2-year renovation that included a meticulous restoration of the pre-war moldings and dark-stained herringbone patterned hardwood floors that run throughout the apartment including into the enviably equipped and multi-windowed eat-in kitchen that features marble counter tops and glass-fronted Shaker style cabinetry.The long and linear apartment has a remarkably polished, sensible and floor plan (above) that devotes the majority of the second level to the master suite. A small upper level landing provide public access to the roof terrace and half bathroom saves flight of stairs for sunbathers, sunset watcher and green thumbs. The corner master suite is comprised of a generous bedroom with sitting area and windows with beguiling city and river views to the north and west, two on-the-small-side walk-in closets, and a greenhouse-style bathroom with double pedestal sinks, a claw-footed soaking tub, and frameless glass enclosed shower. Your Mama hopes all those windows are fitted with custom electronic shades that can be lowered at the push of a button and allow Miz Aniston needs to bathe and/or do her dirty bizness without fear of a distant neighbor with a pair of binoculars.

A quick perusal of the property records indicates there aren't a lot of name brand people living in the full-service building that's so close to the Meatpacking District that it might as well be the Meatpacking District, but we did find that photographer Jessica Craig-Martin owns a couple of high floor unit, one of which she's owned since 1999.

Your Mama has no inside information about Miz Aniston so we really can't vouch for the veracity of this particular real estate rumor. However, even if this is all just a hoo-ha of real estate smoke and mirrors, at least we can all enjoy the photos and floor plan as pure real estate porn to be savored quietly in a dim room with Marvin Gaye on the iPod.

Trade her BH Hal Leavitt for anything in Manhattan? No, just no, and I say that as a former NY'er myself. She should lease a place and live there year round for an entire year before deciding anything for sure. Spending a long, cold winter in NY can be an eye opening experience for someone not used to it. She's got the money to maintain homes on both coasts, and I don't understand the simplified talk. It's not like she personally manages things, or writes the checks to pay her own bills anyways. She can live as simply as she wants, with a little or a lot.

I liked her a lot in The Good Girl. I haven't seen anything else of hers since. Did she do TGG before or after her split with Brad Pitt(s)? I rather think she has never recovered from being dumped. However much moolah you have, being dumped wounds the psyche. Real estate ennui and fickle might be one result.

Angie, Jennifer Aniston is a very private/secluded person and is NEVER photographed walking the streets Beverly Hills as it so what makes you think she'll be gallivanting the cold streets of New York during winter?

She's rich. Rich people use drivers. She'll be walking from hoity toity NYC restaurant or luxury boituqe to her warm chauffeured car. I am in LA and NY 20+ times a year and NYC is a much better city anyway.

And a single woman living in a 9,000 sq ft house is just strange. We're a family of 5 who lives in a 7,300 sq ft house and even I find it huge. I can't even imagine myself living in the alone house as a single woman. Let alone an ADDITIONAL 2,700 sq ft+.

I have seen pictures of Jennifer Aniston walking the streets of LA. She was leaving Waterworks on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. It was reported that she uses Kiehls products as well, which has a store just down the street from the (now) former Waterworks location.

Jennifer is not above anything. I would think since Barbara Walters, Jessica Seinfeld, Katie Couric and Regis Philbin can walk the streets of NY without bother, why can't Jennifer Aniston?

"unimaginably wealthy"? Well, Vanity Fair puts her in 2010 at #18in the top 40 highest paid Tinseltown stars, with about 23.5 million income. Previous year she was only 33rd with 20 million. Unlike some others she seems to command only about 8 million a movie (or sometimes 10 or 6), about the level of Owen Wilson. She makes more than all but a tiny percent of Americans, but she is not by far the highest paid Tinseltown star or even near it.

Lovely looking place. I can't remember how big her LA place is but I'm guessing a lot larger than 2900 sq ft. The rooms must be huge because there are not that many of them. This has 3/4 bedrooms, same number of bathrooms, living room, and kitchen. She went to HS in NYC, so living there won't be a shock.

Anon 9:23 PM, thank you for your response. I was born and raised in NY, so I know that of which I speak. The most dispiriting aspect of a NY winter for me is the seemingly endless succession of drab, overcast days from which there is no escape, whether you view them from an exclusive duplex, tenement building, limousine, taxicab, or the street. While both LA and NYC have their advantages, neither is perfect, which is why I suggested she not give up the one to live in the other, but rather to split her time between the two since she can afford it.

I've lived in several larger homes myself. When you're in the 7,000 to 9,000 sqft range already, a difference of 3,000 sqft give or take is negligible, particularly when it's almost a given that necessary help is employed to maintain it.

More importantly, a genuine Hal Leavitt house is being discussed here, not a run of the mill dwelling like millions of others. It's the housing equivalent of a collector's item, vintage rare car, or antique. To make practicality the sole criteria when considering ownership of a distinguished designer home is to miss the point. An investment of that type is typically made by those with cultivated taste, and is rarely if ever merely a practical acquisition.

Angie, Jennifer is a big girl, I think she can handle her own finances. Why should she keep and maintain a house she doesn't want anymore in a city she doesn't want to live in? Because she has the money to waste? She's always in Mexico anyway so that will still probably remain her escape to place.

I think this place is really cute (except for the kitchen, looks weird).

And people really need to get over the Brad Pitt thing. How long ago was that? I'm sure she has moved on with her life. He looks haggard nowadays anyway and is ageing terribly.

Jennifer Aniston is very rich, since people of her wealth usually have multiple homes, I don't think it would make sense to split time between NY and BH since there are simply more fabulous warm weather locales. Beverly Hills and Manhattan are too alike, she should purchase her second proeperty somewhere completely different, somewhere more resort like such as South France. NY and Saint Jean Cap Ferrat sound fabulous.

Or she maybe go ahead and purchase property in Mexico since she spends half her time down there anyway:)

But this goes against what she wants to do anyway, she wants to simplify her life. Just because she can afford to purchase multiple homes doesn't mean she should.. there are always hotels (Hotel du Cap Eden Roc is just fab!!)

I think the new NY place is really cute (except for the kitchen, looks weird).

And people really need to get over the Brad Pitt thing. How long ago was that? I'm sure she has moved on with her life. He looks haggard nowadays anyway and is ageing terribly.

Manhattan and Beverly Hills are too alike, if I were as rich as Jennfer Aniston I would purchase the Manhattan home for my home base and trade in the Beverly Hills home for something in a more exotic and fabulous location such as South France or Italian Riviera for second home. Beverly Hills is simply too pedestrian for a second home (ok I'll admit I'm a bit biased because we own property in Eze and I'm French lol).

Let me clarify. This is a blog where people express personal opinions. I was expressing mine, from a 'If I were in her shoes this is what I would do' point of view, and that is all. I was not suggesting that anything is wrong with Jen's choice to sell on the West Coast and move to the East Coast if that is what she decides to do. I don't understand the concern over my meaningless opinion. I'm not concerned about yours. Lighten up.

I can understand her not loving the Beverly Hills pad. During the couple of years it took to renovate she lived in a beach hut in Malibu. O.K, it was on Carbon Beach but it certainly wasn't lavish ... then she lived in her house on Blue Jay which is hardly grand. Maybe she does prefer a less lavish life.

Anon12:45 -

"unimaginably wealthy"? Well, Vanity Fair puts her in 2010 at #18in the top 40 highest paid Tinseltown stars, with about 23.5 million income"

You're forgetting that she was on the biggest TV show of all time & was paid $1M an episode, 24 episodes in a season, on for 10 years = 10 seasons. Also during that time she completed some films in her downtime, she did pretty big endorsements for L'Oreal etc.. so she was raking in $25M+ per year minimum & even today when Friends is all but a distant memory it's still on numerous TV channels throughout the world & the cast will still be pulling in multi-millions each year in residuals. She'll be worth well over $100M.

I'm sure her Friends residuals will keep her in Real-Estate-Fickle-Heaven for the rest of her life, if she so desires...

This is a nice building, overlooking a small park, with Empire State views; who's to say that, with typical New Yorkers' sensibilities, being left alone on the street isn't her idea of simplifying her life?

The BH home is lovely, but other than some quick exercise via a brisk stroll around the neighborhood, there's no way she wouldn't need a car to get anywhere else in the vicinity.

Although for some reason I can't quite picture her on the subway, it's not beyond the capabilities of a former New Yorker. And she can always cab it.

I'd love to see Jennifer Aniston dig her heels into a highrise Manhattan apartment. The West Village is a great neighborhood, and hopefully she will meet a better selection of men once she's out of Hollywood!

Well, as Mama knows, I've visited Ms. Aniston's home (it's "Levitt", btw) so might be uniquely qualified among the group. All I can say is, she put her heart and soul into it in a way I can't explain here. It's highly doubtful to me that she's going to give it up.

THAT SAID, when I read somewhere about her adopting, I thought of the kid being transported into life in this house. The bedroom wing is very sheltered and cave-like -- though luxuriously proportioned. I just can't imagine what will be going through that child's head, going from orphanage to opulence like that. That's also more reason I can't imagine her giving up the space to pack off a whole 'family' to NYC. But then again, maybe the adoption was just tabloid bunk.

Mama, that first part of your blog where you describe JA made me laugh my ass off!

Yeah, maybe she'll buy this place in NYC, but I'm CERTAIN shw won't pull up stakes altogether in LA. She LOVES that place! Even though she's a native New Yorker, she is the epitome of a true California Girl...long, blonde mane, tanned, firm body, Yoga devotee, Mexican food lovin', Margarita swillin', sunglass wearin' chick. The only place she EVER vacations is in CABO SAN LUCAS! Please people...pullin' up stakes to move solely to NYC? No chance in hell!

Remember...she's the one also sayin' to the mini-van majority, that she's gonna have a baby...ONE DAY! (Yeah, right...if ever!)

"Rich" in Hollywood is 15-20 Million for a movie. She gets only 8 million, sometimes as little as 6and sometimes as much as 10. Witherspoon still seems to be able to command 12 million, but how long that will last due to flops remains to be seen. I think the gravy in the gravy train is getting markedly thinner for almost all of them.

Maybe it is a good idea for her to relocate to New York. New people, places, opportunities unlike Los Angeles where she has lived for so many years and where it seems her life has been on standstill at least romantically.

New York could be the start of a better more exciting time in her life.

You say California and I say, "Uh seriously, what planet?" I mean, stop the presses! She went to Kiehls! Whoa and wow. That's really a hop, skip, isn't it? Walking involves length not the mere movement of legs. New Yorkers walk real distances. Everyday. Get it? If you're a defense lawyer you're very bad at it.

And why does she invest so much time and money in these monster remodels, when she really does not like the house in the first place.

It is easier and safer to flip a bunch of 2-3 mil homes than one this controversial and expensive. I guess she needs the attention? Has anybody told her home prices are still falling? This will be the worst year yet for foreclosures.

And I'll take sunny LA/San Diego over NYC ANY day. Can NOT stand the people in NYC. I am still waiting to be paid by a crooked NYC businessman that seems to make sport out of scre_wing people. What is wrong with these people in NYC??? Something in the water?

Hollywood people live in a whole other universe than us simple folk. The price tag is outrageously overpriced but size-wise this isn't so bad. Remember, Mariah has a $15mil penthouse spanning 15,000 sq ft. THAT'S ridiculous. But 3,000 or so sq ft - not so bad. I'm glad to see Jennifer give up that big house - she was very happy in her little 1,531 sq. ft Malibu rental - she did the big house to get even with Brad, architecturally speaking.